Primal (video game)
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| Primal | |
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| Developer(s) | SCE Europe |
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| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing game, Platformer, Action/Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature |
| Platform(s) | Sony PlayStation 2 |
| Media | 1 DVD-ROM (PlayStation 2) |
Primal is an action PlayStation 2 video game developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe aka Studio Cambridge. It tells the story of Jennifer Tate, an orphan teenage girl searching for her boyfriend in a dimension of demons. As the story develops we discover more about Jen's past and her link to her boyfriend and the demon worlds. The richly developed demon realms give the scenery the effect of being important, while the music by 16Volt provides action scenes with dramatic and well timed background.
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[edit] Spoilers ahead.
[edit] History
Primal is about a young (half-)human girl known as Jen. Because she is a half-demon (albeit unknowingly), she is called upon to use her powers in the service of Arella - the avatar of Order who resides in the Nexus. In the Nexus and its connected realms, Abaddon -the personification of Chaos and foil to Arella - struggles to sway the balance of power to himself, which would if left unchecked starve Arella (and Order) of existence. Abaddon's desires to pull all of the primal force to the side of Chaos threaten to destroy all the realms connected by the Nexus, including Mortalis - where Jen and the mortals make their home.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Jen
Jen (Jennifer Tate) is a 21 year old woman who is hospitalized after being attacked outside a nightclub with her boyfriend Lewis. Her soul is separated from her unconscious body by Scree and taken into the Nexus. Jen is half mortal, half demon and was freed from Abaddon's grasp when she was a baby, along with Lewis.
[edit] Scree
A stone gargoyle who assists Jen throughout the realms. He is a loyal servant of Arella. We later discover he is in reality Abzidur, who was captured by the Djinn some time ago and managed to escape by placing his spirit into the nearest stone statue. He reclaims his form of Abzidur to help Jen leave Volca and return to the Nexus.
[edit] Lewis
Jen's wannabe rockstar boyfriend, who designed the tattoo on her back saying it was a symbol of protection - a symbol that appears in various places in the Nexus. Attacked with Jen, it later is revealed he too is a hybrid, and is in the thrall of Abaddon. After defeating Lewis at the end of the game, Jen gives Abzidur/Scree her blessing to throw Lewis into the Nexus, as it is said that it may lead towards life. After the credits you see Jen sitting in Lewis's hospital room, waiting for him to wake up.
[edit] Arella
The Primal Force of Order. Appears as a yellow floating head and gives advice to Jen.
[edit] Abaddon
The Primal Force of Chaos. Appears as a red floating head and tries to break Jen's spirit and stop her progress in reviving Chronos.
[edit] Places
[edit] Mortalis
Little of Mortalis is seen during the course of the game. The only locations seen are the club where Jen and Lewis are attacked, and the hospital.
[edit] The Nexus
The place where Chaos and Order is balanced by Chronos, the time keeper. The Nexus contains rift gates to the four realms.
[edit] The Races
[edit] Ferai
The Ferai live in the realm of Solum, aligned to Arella. At the height of his power, their king must sacrifice himself and pass on the sovereignty to his son. In Solum it is always night and always winter.
Ruled by Herne and his wife Devena, they have a son, Jared, to who the throne must be passed on. Jared has been missing, and the delay in the succession has started Solum's descent into Chaos. Upon locating Jared, Jen and Scree learn that Delvena, who they witnessed ordering a murder, is not in fact, Devena, but an impostor. Eventually reaching the rooms in the Necropolis where the fake Devena told Jared his mother's body were, they discover that Devena is dead, but her corpse has not begun to decay, meaning that the impostor used necromancy to maintain the form. Cremating the body breaks the hex, causing the imposters body to begin to decay. Herne arrives in the Necropolis and throws himself, and the impostor, over the cliff.
[edit] Undine
The Undine live in the realm of Aquis, and are an aquatic, fish like race that communicate via telepathy. The waters of the lagoon are naturally poisonous to them, but they have constructed Purification Towers to purify the water. In Aquis it is always sunset and autumn. They are aligned to Arella.
Ruled by Queen Aino and King Adoro, we first see Queen Aino in a device which rises her above the level of the water. The Undine have been stricken by a madness of the body and mind, and Adoro decrees that Aino must be sacrificed to appease the Leviathan. After being saved by Jen (Scree is of little help for much of this stage due to it being underwater) she opens the gate to allow them access to the rest of the lagoons. The level consists of swimming around the various areas turning on the machines to purify the water. The final boss is Adoro, who was one of the first to be afflicted by the tainted water.
[edit] Wraith
The Wraith are vicious, deceitful and in many cases sadistic. They possess a "time-shifting" ability, which allows them to almost teleport around locations (referred to as Wraith Dodge). Jen has the ability to slow down time as well.
Wraith society consists of the Wraith aristocrats, who live in decadence, and the helot (peasantry.) Aetha is a realm of constant rain and eternal spring, but is a bleak land aligned to Abaddon.
Ruled by Raum and Empusa - Wraith aristocracy - they now demand blood sacrifices from the helot. Empusa and Raum have a daughter, Elizabeth, who is shown little love by her parents and is deathly scared of her father.
While in Aetha, Jen is captured by Raum, and her vambraces are removed. To reclaim them she dresses up in one of Empusa's gowns and pretends to be the Duchess Natalia, narrowly avoiding an amorous advance from Raum as she dances with him to steal the key needed.
Elizabeth helps Jen and Scree gain access to the Dark Maze, eager to see if they are going to kill her mother and father. She wants to keep Scree as a pet once her parents are dead, and behaves like the spoiled brat when Jen and Scree rebuff her schemes. After the battle against Raum and Empusa, Elizabeth appears to be pleasantly surprised by the fact Jen actually did kill her parents and runs off.
[edit] Djinn
The Djinn lay dormant like the volcano of their realm, their power increasing as the volcano nears eruption. There are constant power struggles within the royal court, most of them between the King and Queen.
The realm of Volca is always set at the height of a summers day. They are strongly aligned to Abbadon.
It is ruled by Iblis and Malaiki, Iblis giving Jen the "False Djinn" aspect shortly after entering the level. The False Djinn aspect melds Jen's will to Iblis, making her fight against Scree. Malaiki gives Scree the True Djinn aspect which he then passes to Jen after defeating her as a boss. The final boss of the level is Iblis. His heartstone which grants him immortality is purposely dropped by Malaiki, giving the shard to Jen to revive Chronos, and allowing her to reign over the Djinn, keeping them in some kind of order, thereby changing Volca's alignment.
